Apparatus for salvaging sunken vessels.



APPLICATION FILED OCT- 15.15MB.

Patent-ed Mar. 11, 1919.

54a 2 7 05 Z linden.

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I CHARLES n tonnon, or s'rnvnsron, nnrrrsn COLUMBIA, CANADA.

I ALEIPARA'IUS FOB SALVAGING- SUN'KEN VESSELS.

reac es.-

To all whom it may ccncern:

Be it'knownthatl, CHARLES LONDON, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and a resident of Steveston, in. the Prcvince cf BritishColumbia, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for. Salvaging Sunken Vessels,

bf which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the salvaging of sunken vessels,including those sunk in a depth in which it is not possible orfeasiblefor a diver 'tc operate, and the object of my invention is to devise anapparatus by means'of which the lifting cables are permanently securedto the vessel in a, highly practical manner so as to sink with itand arecapable of'being thereafter raisedto the surface so that a hold may beobtained at once by the lifting medium without the necessity of anyintermediate operations, the cables being provided with means operativeon the sinking of the vessel adapted to float to the surface andindicate the position of the wreck.

I attain this object by the means illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which' a Figure 1 is a transverse section of a floating hullillustrating the arrangement of my apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a sunken hull showing the liftingcables ready for attachment to the lifting medium.

Fig. 3 is adetail view of the cable reel and lifting wheel. Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the reel flange and trunnion.

Fig.5 is a detail View in perspective of a spring'cable guide.

F 1g. 6 1s a view illustrating the roller bearing for the lifting wheel.

is a cross section through the runway.

- Similar figures of reference indicate similar parts throughoutthe'several views.

1 indicates the hull of a vessel in which are built pairs of strongrunways 2, as indi cated in Figs. 1 and 2, the upper ends of the runwayscurving outwardly and terminating close to the sides of the vessel underthe I deck. There may be any number of pairs of such runways accordingto'the size of the vessel, the respective pairs being located at spacedintervals throughout the vessels length, and adjacent each runway ispositioned a Heel, indicated by the numeral 3,-

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Mar, 1 1 1919, Applicationfiled Detober 15, 1913. Serial No. 258,214.

rotatably mounted in suitable hearin s a and 5 rigidly secured to thehull and adapted to carry sufficient length of lifting cable 6 as willreach the surface when unwound after the sinking of the vessel, and inaddition to the lifting cable 6 the reel also carries wound thereon andattached to the free end of the cable 6 a small cable 7 to the free endof cable 6 passes over the flange 10 of the reel and down the face of itthe cable being laid in a groove 11 formed in the flange so that it willlie flush with the surface thereof and then carried along a groove12-forined in the reel trunnionl3 sotliat it may be connected by aswivel 14 to a'lifting wheel 15 of great strength -mounted in therunway, which wheel may be supported by a suitable roller bearing 16, ifpreferred, indicated in Fig.

6. The cable 6 is held in place on the reel flange and trunnion by gers17 capable of opening outwardly, how ever, under strain, to permit? therelease of the rope.

The manner in which the invention operates will be apparent as it willbe seen that on the sinking of the vessel, the buoys will float to thesurface carrying the cables"? up With them, the floating buoysindicating the position of the wreck. raise the vessel the liftingcables 6 are then hauled to the surface by means of the smaller ones 7,this action causing the reels 3 to rotate to unwind the cables until,when the cable on. eaclrreel is all unwound, the

When it is desired to means of spring finstrain thereon causes thespring fingers l7 and guides!) to spread apart, thus freeing 'raised bycontinued lifting strain on the cables.

What I claim as my invention is:-

1. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising lifting cablessecured to the vessel and means for enabling the free end of each cableto be raised'to the surface after sinking, said means being, adapted topermit travel of: the secured end'of the gable from its-normal point ofattachment to a predetermined liftingpoint.

22 Apparatus-"for raising sunken vessels,

:comprising' rotatably mounted reels secured transversely tothe vesselat suitable points,

"a lifting 'caihle normally wound on each'reel having its ower endrotatably connected to the vessels structure and capable of limitedvertical movement under strain and having secured-to its free end asmaller cable also wound on the reel, said smaller cable being rovidedon its free end with a buoy of sufcient buoyancyto unwind the smallcable ofi the reel as thevessel sinks.

' its 3. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising-outwardlycurving runways the lower ends of .which' are secured to the vessel atsuitable points on each side of the longitudinal center line andterminating at small cable off the reel as the vessel sinks.

, 4:. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels,

comprising a plurality of suitably located flanged cable reels havingtrunnions by which they are rotatably mounted .in bear ings secured tothe vessel, each said reel having a groove cut in the periphery of itsouter flange extending down the face thereof and continued through theouter trunnion, a lifting cable normally wound on each reel having itslower end passed through said groove, means for retaining said cable 1nthe groove during rotation of the reel, and means for rotatablyconnecting the lower end of the cable to the ves sels structure.

'- 5. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising a-pluralit-y ofsuitably located flanged cable reels having trunnlons by which they arerotatably mounted in bearings secured to the vessel, each said reelhaving a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending downthe face thereof and continued through the outer trunmm, a lifting cablenormally wound on each reel .having its lower end passed through saidgroove, means for retaining the said cable inthe groove duringrotationof the reel, means for rotatably connecting the lower end of thecable to the vessels structure, and means operative on the vesselssinking for enabling a grip on thesunken cables to be obtained.

6 Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising a plurality ofsuitably located flanged cable reels having trunnions by which they arerotatably mounted in bear ings secured to the vessel, each said reelhaving a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending downthe face there of and continued through-the outer'trunnion, a liftingcable normally wound on each reel having "itslower end passed throu bsaid groove, spring fingers secured to t e flange and the trunnion toretain the cable in the said groove 'during'rotat-ion of the reel andadapted to be spread under strain to free the cable from the reel, meansfor rotatably connecting the lower end of the cable to the vesselsstructure, and means operative on the vessels sinking for enabling agrip on the sunken cables to be obtained.

7. Apparatus for raising sunken vessels, comprising, a plurality ofsuitably located flanged cable reels having trunnions by which they arerotatably mounted in bearings secured to the vessel, each said reelhaving a groove cut in the periphery of its outer flange extending downthe face thereof and continued through the outer trunnion, a liftingcable normally wound on each reel having its lower end passed throughsaid groove, an outwardly curving runway adjacent each reel the upperend of which'95 terminates close -to the vessels side. a lifting wheelrotatably mounted and normally supported in the lower end of each runwayand havinga swivel attachment whereby it may be connected to the lowerend ofits respective cable, means for detachably retaining the cable inthe said groove during rotation of the reel, and means operative on thevessels sinking for enabling a grip on the sunken cables to be obtained.

Signed at Vancouver, C., this 26th day of September, 1918.

P CHARLES E. LONDON.

